Cybester an ok car as just a "summer car" and will survive long periods of storage ?

[leomindel]

Presumably the car was left outside?

Yep under a cover

 

[CyberNewbie]

I think I have worked out how to leave the parking brake off. This worked but I am not sure I remember the exact order.

Put the car in neutral

Then pull the handbrake button towards you so you hear the brake come off.

Keep the button pulled then turn the car off using the central console.

It may be push the button instead of pull but eventually I was able to get out. Lock the car and still push it and the brake was off.

Thanks, very helpful. Should be easier than this, hopefully something that will be addressed via a software update. I left my last car for 2 months on a long holiday earlier this year and left handbrake off and used a trickle charger. Doing the same next year but no trickle charger needed

 

[leomindel]

Thanks, very helpful. Should be easier than this, hopefully something that will be addressed via a software update. I left my last car for 2 months on a long holiday earlier this year and left handbrake off and used a trickle charger. Doing the same next year but no trickle charger needed

I very much doubt it. MG don’t have a track record of doing software updates and in this case I can’t see why they would as being able to move your car by hand is not something most people will ever do.

 

[CyberNewbie]

I very much doubt it. MG don’t have a track record of doing software updates and in this case I can’t see why they would as being able to move your car by hand is not something most people will ever do.

I always used to leave the handbrake off after washing my car, if not the brakes invariably stick. At least there is a work around.

 

[CyberNewbie]

If you are storing a car for long periods, you will need to consider care of the tyres in order to avoid flat spots.

Agree, this is a heavy car. I am going to leave my car for two months in a garage and not sure what to do about this. Has anyone had experience of tyre cradles, do they work?

 

[CyberNewbie]

I parked my Cyberster for 2.5 months recently.
Main battery did not drop a single percent, 12 V battery was at 12.3 V and shortly after starting the car fully up again.
For me that is proof that the main battery is triggle charging the 12V battery as mentioned in the manual.

Agree, page 23 of the Owners Manual (v. 1.0 UK) does talk about Intelligent Charging and that "the
the vehicle will automatically charge the 12V battery". I will be away for two months with my car in a garage and planning to charge my car to about 70% before leaving it and suspect the charge will not drop much during that period.

However, page 245 states that "When the vehicle will not be used for an extended
period of time, it is recommended that the battery negative terminal should be disconnected." I wonder what is meant by extended period of time?

On the same page (245) the manual states "When the vehicle will not be used for a long period of time without disconnecting the negative battery cable, it is recommended that the vehicle be driven or idled for more than half an hour per week to help prolong the life of the battery." Does this not contradict information on page 23? How do you idle an EV?? This paragraph sounds like it has been taken out of an ICE Owners Manual. Surely the Intelligent Charging is equivalent to trickle charging or am I missing something?

 

[Paulie68]

Agree, this is a heavy car. I am going to leave my car for two months in a garage and not sure what to do about this. Has anyone had experience of tyre cradles, do they work?

You don't need to worry about tyres at all for only 2 months. increase the pressure to about 40psi if you want to be extra safe against flat spots, but there'll be no issue.

 

[Paulie68]

Agree, page 23 of the Owners Manual (v. 1.0 UK) does talk about Intelligent Charging and that "the
the vehicle will automatically charge the 12V battery". I will be away for two months with my car in a garage and planning to charge my car to about 70% before leaving it and suspect the charge will not drop much during that period.

However, page 245 states that "When the vehicle will not be used for an extended
period of time, it is recommended that the battery negative terminal should be disconnected." I wonder what is meant by extended period of time?

On the same page (245) the manual states "When the vehicle will not be used for a long period of time without disconnecting the negative battery cable, it is recommended that the vehicle be driven or idled for more than half an hour per week to help prolong the life of the battery." Does this not contradict information on page 23? How do you idle an EV?? This paragraph sounds like it has been taken out of an ICE Owners Manual. Surely the Intelligent Charging is equivalent to trickle charging or am I missing something?

Charge it to 40% to 50% and disconnect the negative on the 12v. You could leave it for years at that with no harm and it would most likely not even drop by 1% when you powered up again. There is virtually zero self discharge on lithium if there's no parasitic drain.

 

[CyberNewbie]

Charge it to 40% to 50% and disconnect the negative on the 12v. You could leave it for years at that with no harm and it would most likely not even drop by 1% when you powered up again. There is virtually zero self discharge on lithium if there's no parasitic drain.

Thanks for this. Am still not clear why you have to disconnect the negative terminal given Intelligent Charging? Surely you will not get significant draining of the main batteries in 2 months?

 

[tarbat]

All I do when leaving our Cyberster (and other EVs) for months is charge to around 80% and release the parking brake. Very little battery drain.

Previous cars have recommended running the aircon every month or so to ensure the compressor keeps lubricated.

 

[Paulie68]

Thanks for this. Am still not clear why you have to disconnect the negative terminal given Intelligent Charging? Surely you will not get significant draining of the main batteries in 2 months?

Just me, I'm old school, would rather not leave anything to the car, with the 12v disconnected, the main battery will have no drain at all and stay as it was left. Car is in hibernation so to speak!

 

[Paulie68]

All I do when leaving our Cyberster (and other EVs) for months is charge to around 80% and release the parking brake. Very little battery drain.

Previous cars have recommended running the aircon every month or so to ensure the compressor keeps lubricated.

The compressor thing is actually a good point, those seals just love to start leaking when left unused!

 

[salty]

The compressor thing is actually a good point, those seals just love to start leaking when left unused!

Agree. I leave mine on permanently. And just adjust the Temperature/Fan speed as and when.

 

[CyberNewbie]

Presumably you can remotely turn the aircon on for a few minutes each week when the car is in storage?

 

[tarbat]

Presumably you can remotely turn the aircon on for a few minutes each week when the car is in storage?

Sadly no. The connection from the App to the car gets turned off after a few days of not connecting.

Previous EVs I've owned (Renault, Fiat) did allow this, but the Cyberster shuts down its connection to the MG app after several days of inactivity.

 

[CyberNewbie]

Sadly no. The connection from the App to the car gets turned off after a few days of not connecting.

Previous EVs I've owned (Renault, Fiat) did allow this, but the Cyberster shuts down its connection to the MG app after several days of inactivity.

Ouch, that's a shame. If I connect on a daily basis (a pain) does this get around the issue?

 

[tarbat]

Ouch, that's a shame. If I connect on a daily basis (a pain) does this get around the issue?

I think so, but it will use a bit more of the battery starting up the car's systems every day.